I disagree with most of the reviewers here that the "gas" solution is a cheat. While this may tie-up the episode too quickly and neatly in a nice little bow, it is television after all. And television before there were story arcs that continued throughout a season. But having the gas be the culprit causing the aggression and retardation of the lower inhabitants is a good beginner's start to understanding how circumstances can make others that are different from you SEEM to be inferior. In the 1960's (and even today), southern whites (and some liberals) assumed they were superior to minorities without taking into account the role poverty and mistreatment and environment play in intelligence (nutrition), attitude and behavior. Given the same even environmental/physical playing field, human beings tend to be pretty much equal not only in good qualities, but bad also. As usual, Star Trek was ahead of it's time in even attempting to address the issue.
Review of The Cloud Minders
